dianawynnejonesfandomcom-20200213-history
Miranda Chant
Miranda Chant, born Argent, mother of Christopher, is a distant, self-absorbed beauty. She is obsessed with her own personal appearance and with her ambitions to cut a grand figure in society. As such, she leaves the upbringing of her only son to a succession of nannies and governesses. When The Lives of Christopher Chant begins, Miranda is embroiled in an ongoing conflict with her husband Cosimo, an enchanter and astrologer whose (limited) mastery of horoscopes leads him to make a series of unfortunate investments which end up losing both his own and his wife's fortune. The two communicate via notes and by relaying cutting remarks through servants, who generally quit after a short time, due to both the uncertainty of their wages and the atmosphere in the house created by the marital wars. Link to Ralph Argent (the Wraith) The financial crisis caused by Cosimo Chant's investment reverses leads Miranda to turn to her brother, Ralph (pronounced "Rafe") Argent . Uncle Ralph throws a kind of glamor over young Christopher, who has been wandering at night into related worlds while one of his nine lives lays sleeping. Promising his sister to win back all her money by careful investing, Uncle Ralph provides his sister with a new servant who Christopher thinks of as The Last Governess. He has also employed an expert in spirit traveling, and he arranges with Christopher to meet that expert in the place between worlds, and assist him in various magical projects. That these projects are actually illegal smuggling ventures of various controlled magical substances Christopher doesn't learn until much later. Based on his admiration for Uncle Ralph and a growing friendship with his uncle's expert Tacroy, Christopher is well and truly drawn into the Wraith's evil schemes. What we know of Miranda Chant Miranda is a sorceress, who exercises her powers by touching some piece of another person -- usually one of their hairs, which she saves at her dressing table. Using this touch, she calls people to her or traces their movements. Miranda is also extremely vain. She wears huge skirts and elaborate Victorian hairstyles. The Last Governess is careful to conceal her own prettiness around Miranda, which seems to be a way to avoid angering her. Christopher may well have inherited his love of finery from his mother, even though as a child he is pretty oblivious to his own appearance. After Christopher has been brought to Chrestomanci Castle for training, in the middle of the book, Miranda visits Christopher there with her new companion, who turns out to be The Last Governess. Christopher has insensibly gained better judgment of adults at that point, and he recognizes that the two of them are attempting to use him. He turns down their invitations and the two of them leave to go back to their little apartment on the Continent, which Ralph Argent has procured for his sister. Despite her frustrations with her husband, Christopher's first inkling that Miranda still has feelings for Cosimo comes when he watches Tacroy and Miss Rosalie, temporarily reunited towards the end of the book in the defensive magics that the Castle inhabitants raise against the Wraith and his minions. Their sensitivity towards one another's every word and move remind Christopher of something he has seen in the past, and he eventually realizes it is the way his parents acted with one another. After the Wraith is defeated at the end of the book, Christopher causes a letter to be sent that reuinites his parents in Japan, where Cosimo's horoscopes have won the attention of the Emperor. Miranda joins Cosimo there, and is very happy to write Christopher that they've attained a place in high society there. So there seems to be a happy ending for this thoroughly selfish, neglectful human being. Chant, Miranda